Don Kirshner, record producer and TV host, dies at 76

The man who produced countless hit records and helped introduce The Monkees to the world has passed away.

The New York Times reports Don Kirshner died of heart failure on Jan. 17 in Boca Raton, Florida. He was 76.

Working with artists such as Carole King and Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, Kirshner might be best known for the better part of a decade he spent on camera. He was the producer and host of ABC's "Don Kirshner's Rock Concert" -- an Ed Sullivan for a different generation.

Guests on "Don Kirshner's Rock Concert," which ran from 1973 to 1981 included Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Allman Brothers, David Bowie and the Rolling Stones.